This was a hot link with cole slaw on the bottom and red onion and pickle slices on top. The link was smokey and spicy, and there was sourness and crunch from the pickles and onion and some sweetness and crunch from the slaw. This was some really good street food from a food truck that I discovered outside a bar I went to for a breakfast drink.
Location: Uncle D's Smokehouse BBQ & Grill @ Escapade Cocktail Lounge, 12347 Palm Drive, Desert Hot Springs, California. Date: June 28, 2023.
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This is street food that shows up every Monday outside The Craft Lounge in Beaumont. The Fry Bread Taco was Tonight's Special, and it came with refried beans, cheese, tomatillo sauce, and choice of meat. I chose the smoked tri tip, and when I bit into the taco I had an OMG moment. The generous portion of tri tip was tender and very smokey in the best way possible. This flavor could only come from a home smoker used lovingly. The fry bread was crispy, there was creaminess from the beans and cheese, and there was just the right amount of spicy heat. The taco was garnished with chopped tomato. If you get the chance, try this taco with the smoked tri tip; it should amaze you.
Location: Queso Gringo at The Craft Lounge, 690 Beaumont Avenue, Beaumont, California. Date: June 19, 2023. These are BBQ pulled pork tacos with crispy onion straws and cabbage; in my case, they upgraded to cole slaw which added tang. The BBQ sauce was a little sweet and smokey, and I could taste the Jack Daniels whiskey in it. I ordered a neat shot of Jack Daniels to go with my tacos, and the pairing was just perfect as Jack has some sweetness and smokiness to it. The owner showed me an inside secret, and I love it when that happens. They buy the pulled pork in Jack Daniels sauce from Sam's Club. All they do is add some extra BBQ sauce and onto the tacos it goes. Both the owner and myself agreed that it was delicious.
Location: Smokin Burgers, 1775 E Palm Canyon Drive, Ste 220, Palm Springs, California. Date: March 25, 2023. I'm known as a saucy guy because I love sauces, but when my sister ordered the brisket from my BBQ hangout, and she gave me some to taste, I declared that it was so good that it didn't need any sauce! Some people who know me can't believe I said that. The meat is smoked for fourteen hours, and it's tender and incredibly tasty. I ordered it last night with sides of mac and cheese and collard greens, both very good. The sad thing is that the restaurant sold, and shortly after I left, it closed its doors. The new owner intends to turn it into a taco place. Just before I left, the old owner told me that the brisket is seasoned with salt and pepper only. The flavor of the meat is so delicious that it's almost unbelievable that it's just smoke with salt and pepper. The owner gets to keep the smoker, so it's possible that we'll get the brisket again sometime somewhere.
Location: Smoketree BBQ, 1775-405 E Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: July 29, 2022. This sandwich from the Prison Hill Brewing Company consisted of brisket, smoked over mesquite wood for sixteen hours, sliced thin, and “forcibly” placed inside a warm amoroso roll with sauteed poblano pepper, caramelized onion, sage mustard, and pepperjack cheese. For my side I ordered prison hill beans which were sweet and smoky. The amoroso roll was like a hoagie roll and not at all sweet. The sandwich was juicy, a little sour, spicy, and it came with crunchy house made potato chips and a pickle spear. The meat was melt in your mouth, but for me it was the poblano chile that took this sandwich to the noteworthy level.
Location: Prison Hill Brewing Company, 278 S Main Street, Yuma, Arizona. Date: April 11, 2022. I went to You Grill with four friends, and our friend from Nepal, who had lived in South Korea, did most of the ordering and all of the grilling. There was a gas grill in the middle of every table with a vent above it, and you get tongs for grilling and a pair of scissors for cutting the grilled items into bite size pieces to eat with your chop sticks. The meal came with plenty of condiments: chili sauce, sweet soy sauce, kimchi, seaweed salad, slices of sweet and fishy fishcake, bean sprouts, and raw garlic cloves (which our friend grilled). For the grill, we had thinly sliced and tender beef brisket, baby octopus, beef short ribs, thinly sliced beef tongue, the You Grill signature steak, a calamari steak, and spicy pork bulgogi (which was a little sweet and very tender, which seems to be a theme with ingredients here). We also had pot stickers and very spicy tofu soup that had some tomato flavor to it. The top photo shows beef tongue, baby squid, and pot stickers before going on the grill. The bottom photo shows slices of beef tongue on the grill. Obviously, we ate really well.
Location: You Grill Korean BBQ, 79680 Highway 111, La Quinta, California. Date: March 21, 2022. This burger, at a local BBQ joint, came with a half pound beef patty, smoked sausage, pulled pork tossed in mango habanero sauce, sliced jalapeños, ghost chile aioli, and apple slaw on a brioche bun. It actually wasn't as spicy as it sounds, especially because I really didn't detect the jalapeño slices, but there was enough heat to be satisfying. The brioche bun was toasted to perfection, and the beef patty was medium on the outside and pinky rare in the middle. This burger was moist and juicy. It also came with a slice of cheese that wasn't on the menu; it was pepper jack, I think. The apple slaw was cole slaw with cubes of crispy green apple, and with their sweetness and crunchiness, they were the star of the dish. There were some nice slices of smoked sausage and some porky pulled pork to give this burger its BBQ theme, but for me it was the apple that took it over the top.
Location: Bubbas Bones & Brews, 68525 Ramon Road, A-101, Cathedral City, California. Date: August 21, 2021. This is half a pound of dry rubbed pork that was smoked for twelve hours before being pulled (hand or fork shredded) and served on butcher paper. I ordered it with collard greens and cornbread for my two sides. The meat was moist and tender. The BBQ sauce, served on the side, was sweet and tangy, and I think I detected cumin and black pepper among the spices. The cornbread muffin, which had a little crunch on the outside and was fluffy inside, was served with butter and honey; however, it was sweet enough to not need the honey. The chopped collard greens, cooked well, were salty, a little spicy, and juicy. I was torn between wanting more BBQ sauce and wanting to eat the meat without it! The mellow porky flavor was drowned out by the sauce, but the sauce was so good. In the end I think they got it right offering the conservative amount of sauce that they did. I'm sure one could always ask for more. One of the noteworthy aspects to this plate is that I didn't get it in the Carolinas but in Palm Springs, California.
Location: Smoke Tree BBQ, 1775 E Palm Canyon Drive, Ste 405, Palm Springs, California. Date: September 25, 2020. I've heard a lot about burnt ends, but I couldn't remember having eaten them, so when I saw them on the menu of Smoke Tree BBQ (which just today reopened its outdoor patio for dining), I decided to order them. Burnt ends, which aren't really burnt, are the chopped up outer bark on the ends of smoked beef brisket. The menu calls them “A Texas treat”. The version here is sauced and then returned to the smoker; this way, the flavor of the sauce penetrates the meat and also moistens it. Texas BBQ sauce is a little spicy, tart, sweet, and smoky; it's a nice balance of flavors. The beef was tender but had a nice chew to it. At Smoke Tree, this dish is garnished with chopped green onion for a nice presentation.
Location: Smoke Tree BBQ, 1775 E Palm Canyon Dr 405, Palm Springs, California. Date: September 11, 2020. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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